Page 143 of The Future Play

Everything is spiraling out of control, and it’s supposed to be Jamie who’s walking through this with me.

This can’t be happening.

Not now. Not like this.

More tears stain my cheeks as my best friends move in closer, forming a circle of love around me.

“He promised he’d always show up when I needed him,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around myself.

But that was before.

Before he achieved his dream. Before he was a major league baseball player.

He convinced me I was his dream too.

And maybe I was until he got what he really wanted.

Maybe I was an idiot to believe there was room for me and baseball in his life.

Maybe I was a desperate, pathetic girl for believing I meantmorethan the game he built his life around.

I know I’m desperate now because all I want to do is call him again. I want to believe I’m not in this alone.

“Oh, shit,” Hyla mutters, blinking at her phone.

“What?” I ask, my chest tightening. Panic overtakes me. What if he was in a car accident? What if he’s dead?

Oh God.

“Is he okay?” I cry.

“He’s… okay.”

Hyla glances at Chelsea, who looks at the screen and bites her lip.

“Just tell me!” I yell.

Slowly, Hyla crawls over to me, taking my hand as she flips her phone screen toward me.

My blood runs cold, and I’m hit with a new level of agony as my world crashes around me. Because staring back at me is a photo of Jamie—his face clearly visible—with his arm slung around some girl as they walk into our apartment building.

No. God fucking no. Not this.

“Do you want Aaron to call him?” Rae asks me.

Breathing is hard, let alone speaking right now.

Never in a million years did I ever think Jamie would cheat on me. It was hard to trust when we were first doing distance, but he showed me over and over that he only had eyes for me. The only thing I’ve felt I was in competition with was baseball. Am I that stupid?

I keep staring at the photo, not wanting to believe it.

I’m not sure I do. After that one instance having lunch with Mark, I know how things can get twisted. But who is he with, and why would they be going into our apartment? With his arm around her?

I’ve always given him my complete trust. But this…

I don’t know what to believe. And when he’s not answering me, what other option do I have to believe? Am I the most naive person on the planet to believe there must be another reason for this?

Aaron walks into the room and looks at everyone. “What’s going on?” Rae must’ve asked him to come up here when I didn’t respond.

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